Former Senate hopeful and Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias has been appointed chairman of the Illinois Community College Board.

Giannoulias, the Democratic nominee for an open Senate seat in Illinois in 2010, lost to then-Rep. Mark Kirk (R) in a bitterly contested race. The seat had been held by Roland Burris, who was appointed to the Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the election of then-Sen. Barack Obama to the White House in 2008.

Last week, Gov. Pat Quinn (D) appointed Giannoulias to the board of the school system, which serves almost 1 million students every year, according to a news release.